Long Description:A former Home Depot Expo Design Center is now the home to a Walmart store in San Jose, California.

This Walmart revealed a deal brewing between Home Depot and Walmart. In 2007, Home Depot shuttered its 34-store chain of Home Expo Design Centers and laid off 7,000 people. That left 34 empty large-box stores on the market for other retailers to buy. When Walmart announced plans to turn the old Expo Design Center into a Walmart, neighbors mounted a campaign to stop it. Walmart also hinted that the plan is broader than just one store: a number of Home Depot locations in the Bay Area might be a part of the deal, including additional locations in Silicon Valley and in Dublin, California.

Opponents launched a website and canvassed surrounding neighborhoods. These residents are concerned primarily about traffic and blight. The Highway 85 and Almaden Expressway intersection is one of San Jose’s busiest because it serves as the main traffic artery for residents of the densely-populated Almaden Valley. Currently, Best Buy is the only store in the shopping center. Traffic generated by Best Buy causes backups well over 100 yards from the street through the parking lot.

The recession has hit surrounding businesses very hard. There are many vacant stores, most significantly at the nearby Almaden Square, where Circuit City and Levitz Furniture have closed their doors. A new Wal-Mart SuperCenter on the opposite side of Highway 85 will make re-occupying Almaden Square nearly impossible, making blight a permanent part of the neighborhood.”